Unwelcomed Affections
by SlytherinTears
Summary: Audrey Burke is the new Ancient Runes professor. With Sirius Black on the loose and a school being guarded by Dementors, she encounters an old school friend. Can she break his barriers? SnapeOC, SnapeLily. Rated M for future chapters.
1. Memories Revisited

-1Severus Snape sighed. He had just finished putting his potion ingredients back in a precise order. Scanning the shelves with his dark eyes, he felt relieved; he had spent almost the entire summer devoting himself to the chore.

The moment he turned away from the shelves, a knock had come from the door of his classroom. "Enter," he said with a hint of sternness. Opening the door was the Headmaster himself, Albus Dumbledore. He was dressed in steel blue robes, and his half-moon spectacles sat upon his crooked nose; and yet, a gleam in his ever-young eyes hinted to Severus that he was to tell him something rather amusing.

_I've no time for jokes, Dumbledore_, he thought.

"Ah, Severus," Dumbledore spoke with his usual joyous tone. "I see you've completed the organizing of your stores. Not a feat easily achieved, I daresay."

"Thank you, Headmaster. But I suspect that you did not just come all the way to the dungeons to congratulate me," Severus said, slightly raising an eyebrow.

"No, I am afraid not, Severus. You see, I wanted to let you know that we've found a new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor."

Severus' stomach contorted itself, as if being engulfed with a dangerous acid. "Oh? Well then good for them," he said, the bitterness obviously present in his voice. For almost ten years, he's been denied the always vacant post of Defense Against the Dark Arts; and he knew precisely why. Albus Dumbledore did not trust him.

"The man who I've hired for the job was Remus Lupin. You remember him from your schooldays, I expect?"

_Oh yes, how could I forget that unforgivable git. He did, of course, attempt to kill me in our sixth year._

"I do, Headmaster. But…what about his _condition_?"

"Yes, yes, I do have that taken care of. As you may remember, Damocles Belby recently invented a potion that eases the symptoms of lycanthropy. I was wondering if you would be willing to make this complicated potion, at least once a month." The usual gleam in Dumbledore's eye vanished suddenly.

Severus hesitated for a moment. Dumbledore's trust was what he craved. Turning down this request could possibly taint the Headmaster's feelings towards him. "Of course, Headmaster. I can prepare the potion for him. It'll be no trouble, none at all."

"Excellent, excellent!" the Headmaster exclaimed, the light in his eye returning. Clasping a hand onto Severus' shoulder, he said, "I know I can always depend on you, Severus."

Just as Dumbledore turned toward the door to leave, he look around at him again. "Oh, and if you haven't heard, Bathsheba has retired, due to ill health. So, that left me needing to find a new Ancient Runes instructor."

"Did you find one, Headmaster?" Severus asked, trying to hurry up the conversation so that he could be left alone to himself.

"Yes, I did. You do remember Audrea Burke, I suppose? She was a few years lower than yourself, a Ravenclaw?"

"Y-Yes sir…I do." Severus felt a bit sick. Maybe it was time to retire like Professor Babbling, too?

"Well, if I have done some research on Miss Burke, and she seems to have been an excellent student in Ancient Runes. I contacted her earlier last week, and she accepted the job."

"Oh…well then, Headmaster…"

"And I expect that you will treat Miss Burke as kindly as you treat all of your other co-workers."

"Yes, sir."

"Well with that said, I will leave you to yourself, Severus." And with that, Dumbledore turned around, and exited the dungeon classroom.

Severus had to find a chair. Seating himself at his desk, he took a deep breath. Audrea Burke, better known as Audrey, was going to work here this year. And who knows how long after that? Opening a drawer to his desk, he pulled out a picture. In the picture were two girls, one was clearly a bit older than the other. The one on the left was smiling shyly, her hazel eyes gleaming in the sunlight overhead; on the right was a girl with dark red hair, and brilliant green eyes, clearly laughing.

"Lily," he whispered, tracing the photo, eyeing the older girl, the redhead.

Then, his eyes shifted to the younger girl with chocolate brown hair. "_Audrey_."


	2. Speaking of the Past

-1The late afternoon air was beginning to settle in the village of St. Basil. A thin layer of clouds were moving overhead; but other than that, it was the definition of a warm, late August day.

"Where are those blasted sweaters?" a young woman said, brushing her dark hair out of her eyes. Audrey was beginning to become very irritated. Two weeks prior, she had accepted the Ancient Runes post at Hogwarts. She seized a few sweaters that were underneath the trunk that she was now packing.

A few minutes later, she was done packing; after locking her trunk, her eyes wandered over to the old golden letters engraved onto the side of the trunk. **AUDREA M. BURKE**. This had been the same trunk that she had used during her years at Hogwarts. She did not go by her given name of Audrea, but instead of Audrey.

Picking up the trunk, she stumbled a bit, barely making it to the open window. On the sill of the window sat a magnificent phoenix, covered in red and golden feathers. Professor Dumbledore had sent his phoenix, Fawkes, to her, so that he could pick up her luggage and fly it to the castle.

Audrey took out her wand and tapped the trunk, muttering the incantation, "_Incarecerous_." From the tip of her wand came a bundle of ropes that immediately began to wrap around the trunk. Afterwards, there was enough rope left to where Audrey tied in a knot. She called Fawkes and he stuck out his leg. He took hold of the rope.

With Audrey giving him a nod of dismissal, he flew out the window, disappearing towards the dark orange horizon. Turning to a small messenger bag that sat idly on an armchair beside the window, she picked it up and strapped it onto her shoulder.

Placing her wand back into her pocket, she took one last look around the room and turned on the spot. Feeling a rush of emptiness and wind, she apparated out of the house. For a few seconds it had felt like she was falling into nothingness. Suddenly, she began to regain her sense of reality and her feet met with the hard ground.

Audrey looked around, making sure she had apparated correctly. She did; she was in Hogsmeade, a small wizarding village not far from Hogwarts castle. Earlier, she had sent a letter to Dumbledore, saying she would stay in Hogsmeade for two days, to get some new robes and supplies. The day when she would go up to the castle would be of the night when the students would arrive.

Adjusting the strap of the bag on her shoulder, she began to walk down the main street of Hogsmeade. It had been a bit different than what she had remembered. Audrey hadn't been back there since the spring of her seventh year. Nearby on a notice board, she noticed that there was a posted wanted sign. She had gotten close enough to read it.

**WANTED - SIRIUS BLACK. IF YOU COME INTO CONTACT WITH THIS MAN, NOTIFY MINISTRY OF MAGIC AUTHORITIES IMMEDIATELY!**

_Smarmy toerag,_ Audrey thought, walking past the notice board.

She didn't know what to do first. She knew that there was a few inns on the main street of Hogsmeade. As she contemplated her options, Audrey had caught sight of _The Three Broomsticks_. Thoughts of mugs of Butterbeer and a cozy room flooded her mind. Immediately dismissing all other possibilities, she made her way toward the inn.

When pushing open the door, the first thing Audrey noticed was the silence; back in her day, she'd be lucky if she could hear herself think when visiting on a Hogsmeade weekend. At the bar was a pretty woman, a few years older than herself. Walking closer to the bar, Audrey recognized the lady.

"Bless the skies, is that you, Audrey?" she said, squinting her eyes slightly.

"Long time, no see, Rosmerta," Audrey greeted her, sitting herself on one of the stools in front of the bar. "Why's there no one here?"

"Oh," Rosmerta looked around at the empty tables scattered around the large room. "Business usually picks up during the school year and holidays. Too hot to drink butterbeer in late August."

"Ah." Audrey said, nodding her head. "So I'm going up to the castle in a few days. Got the--"

"--Ancient Runes post? Yes, Dumbledore mentioned it when he came in the other day. That's fantastic, I think. You've always loved that subject, from what I remember back in school."

"Yeah, I did. So what have you been up to lately? I haven't seen you in so long, since school."

"I've been fairing alright. Got married a few years ago, have a son. He's out with John -- my husband. What about you, Audrey? Didn't you get married?"

"Oh, no, that was my brother, Cillian. He married Alexis, Alexis Joiner, my best friend from school. She…died a few years ago. Fell down the stairs, pregnant with their first child. Cillian's an Auror. I worry about him, though. I think the realization that Alexis is gone finally hit him…he's beginning to grey early and everything. I wish there was something I could do, but…there isn't."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Audrey. You and Alexis were so inseparable, I remember."

"Yeah, we were. But, I moved on a while ago. Mourning isn't going to bring her back," said Audrey, tracing a coaster with her finger. For a moment, there was silence. "Anyways, I was wondering if I can buy a room? I was planning on staying here until the first of the month. I need to buy some new robes and quills."

"Oh, yes! Please, we have so many rooms available right now."

"How much do you think it'd be? Three days…two nights…" asked Audrey, pulling out a few galleons from her pocket.

"No, Audrey, it's on the house. It's fine, trust me. Now come on, I'll show you to your room."

Rosmerta departed from the bar, and Audrey followed her up a set of old stairs.

"So are you looking forward to teaching?" Rosmerta asked conversationally.

"Yes, it'll be wonderful, I think. At least, the way Dumbledore talks about it…"

_Of course, Dumbledore has always been a bit eccentric._

**A/N - Yes, it was terribly short. But I promise, the next chapter will be a lot longer than this. **


	3. Hogwarts Again

-1On the morning of the first of the month, Audrey awoke in her room above the first floor of _The Three Broomsticks_. She bathed and dressed, slipping on a long-sleeve midnight blue gown, and a dark wool robe over that. She had used a Hogsmeade owl to fly the extra robes and supplies to Hogwarts.

Tucking her wand into her robe, she slung the messenger back onto her shoulder and made her way out of the inn. By the time she had reached the end of the main street, it was past noontime. Audrey followed the road that led up to the castle; almost half an hour later, she had reached the gates.

She remember Dumbledore had said that all she need do is knock, and the gamekeeper will open them for me, and lead her up to the castle. Nervously, Audrey knocked onto the metal gates. The sound seemed to echo.

"Alrigh', alrigh', I'm comin'…" she heard a gruff voice come from the other side. Suddenly, a very tall man (_must have some giant blood in him_, Audrey thought) appeared with a large ring of keys, fumbling with the lock. Finally, he had gotten it open.

"'Ello, yeh must be the new Ancient Runes teacher!" the giant man said, looking down at her.

"Uh, yes. You must be the gamekeeper?" Audrey said uneasily.

"Ah, just call me Hagrid! Now let's get goin', Professor Dumbledore'll be 'spectin you, no doubt."

And so, Audrey followed Hagrid up from the gates, up to the castle. As they made their way across the grounds, she heard the rumble of thunder overhead. The clouds were turning into a solid gray. Pulling her robe tighter around her body, Audrey walked a bit faster to keep up with Hagrid.

By the time they had reached the steps that led up to the doors of the castle, Audrey's legs were aching from walking at a fast pace. With a simple push, Hagrid opened the doors, holding it open for her. She took a look around the Entrance Hall. It was exactly like what she had remembered.

On the left, there stood the four House hourglasses. Ahead was a set of stairs that led up to a corridor which led to the Grand Staircase. After almost ten minutes of barely keeping up with Hagrid, Audrey found herself in front of the entrance to Professor Dumbledore's office. Guarding it was a statue of a gargoyle.

"Cauldron cakes," Hagrid said, then turning to Audrey.

"You may go in, Miss--"

"Audrey, call me Audrey. Thank you, Hagrid."

"Twas no trouble a' all. He's waitin' for yeh, Audrey. Yeh can go up."

For a moment, she hesitated. Then, taking a large intake of breath, she climbed the stairs that led up to the Headmaster's office. After climbing the stairs, she found herself face-to-face with a polished door. Just before she even got the chance to knock, she heard a voice from the other side say, "Come in, Miss Burke."

Audrey opened the door. Sitting at a large desk on the other side of the room was Albus Dumbledore, his blue eyes brighter than ever. "Greetings, Miss Burke! How was your stay in Hogsmeade?" he said, motioning to a chair in front of the desk.

As she sat down, Audrey answered, "It was fine, Headmaster, thank you for asking."

"Before we start, would you care for a pumpkin pastry, Miss Burke?" Dumbledore said, flicking his wand, and out of thin air, a basket of warm pastries appeared.

"No thank you, Headmaster."

"Very well then," Dumbledore said, tapping his wand once more, making the basket disappear almost as quickly as it had appeared. "As you know, Miss Burke, you have accepted the Ancient Runes teaching post. It seems that dear old Bathsheba was just not going to get by well enough this year. I am rather excited that you took this post, I must confess. If all goes well, we will not have to hire a new teacher for a very, very long time." Dumbledore peered at her through his half-moon spectacles. "Are you planning on staying here for a while, Miss Burke?"

"Oh, please call me Audrey -- yes, Headmaster, I plan to stay as long I am able to. Seeing that not much is going for me right now, I expect that I will be teaching here for quite a while."

"Excellent! I am happy to hear that, Audrey. From what I remember, you were a very accomplished Ancient Runes student all of those years ago. Your addition to the Hogwarts staff will be nothing short of an excellent contribution. I trust you know who will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"Oh yes, Remus Lupin. He sent me an owl a few weeks ago. I haven't seen him since my brother's wedding."

"Ah, is that so? Well then, I expect that tonight will be filled with many a reunion."

Before she got the chance to ask Dumbledore what he meant by 'many a reunion', someone had entered the office.

"Minerva! I trust you remember Miss Audrey Burke?"

Turning in her chair, Audrey saw an older witch approach Dumbledore and her. Professor McGonagall shifted her eyes to Audrey, giving her a nod of acknowledgement.

"Yes, Albus, I do. Would you like for me to show Miss Burke to her classroom and office?" McGonagall said, looking back at Dumbledore. The older witch had always made Audrey a bit nervous in her school days.

"That would be nice, Minerva. Professor Burke, I'll see you tonight at the Welcoming Feast?"

"Of course, Headmaster," Audrey said, smiling.

"Come along, Professor Burke," McGonagall said, leading her out of the office. After almost ten minutes of walking, up and down many flights of stairs, they had stopped in front of a classroom door, on the fourth floor. McGonagall opened the door and motioned for Audrey to step inside.

"This is your classroom, Professor. It has already been prepared for the upcoming term, so you needn't worry about preparing tonight. As you can see, in the back of the classroom, behind your desk," McGonagall motioned at the door behind the desk at the back of the room, "Is the door that leads to your office. In there, you will find a magical key that will open your private rooms. So long as you possess those keys, you will be the only one to be able to open that door. Your luggage has already been placed in your room, by a House Elf. Is there anything else that you would need to know?"

"No, Professor. Thank you."

"Oh, call me Minerva, we're co-workers now."

"Then you should call me Audrey. Thank you, Minerva."

"Then that is all. The Welcoming Feast starts at seven o'clock tonight, but try to be there a few minutes prior."

Audrey nodded. "Alright, Minerva. Thanks again!" she called after McGonagall, who was now leaving the room.

Taking a long look around the room, Audrey took in the classroom. Behind her desk, the entire wall was made up of a giant blackboard. The only thing that was on that wall other than the blackboard was the door that had led to her office. Making her way in between a row of desks, she walked toward the door.

When she had entered her office, she noticed it had a rather musky smell to it. She headed toward a large window behind her office desk, and opened it, welcoming in the warm sunlight that was now beginning to come out of the dark clouds.

Laying on the desk was what looked like a brass skeleton key. Audrey picked it up, noticing the Norse runes that were engraved onto it. Translating the runes to herself, it read, **With just a gentle touch I open what force cannot**.

_Clever_, Audrey thought, as she inserted the key into the keyhole just under the doorknob to her room.

After opening the door, she found that the door had concealed a rather spacious, but beautiful room. Against the far wall, back posters of a four-poster best were inches apart. Across from the bed was a fireplace, and on the wall of the door was a large wardrobe. Sitting at the foot of the bed was her trunk and shopping bags from Hogsmeade. Next to the fireplace was another door, though it was already open. Inside was a marble bathroom, practically fit for royalty.

_Oh, I can very much get used to this._

The time had gone by fast for Audrey, who had now just begun finishing up unpacking. At six o'clock, she had changed into one of the new gowns she had bought at _Gladrags Wizardwear_, one of the clothing shops in Hogsmeade. It was almost identical to her previous gown, but instead it was dark burgundy. She was rather disappointed that she didn't seem to have enough chest to fill in the dress completely. She slipped her black wool robe over that once more, though mostly just to cover up her flat torso to add some layers.

Audrey wanted to do something with her hair, but decided to leave it down, instead of wasting time fussing with it. By the time it was a quarter till seven, Audrey was ready to leave her room and make her way down to the Great Hall. When she was just about to pass the Defense Against The Dark Arts corridor, she happened to bump into a man wearing a pair of rather ragged robes.

"Oh, excuse me, miss, I'm so sor--" but he stopped dead in his tracks the moment their eyes met. "By the Gods…Audrey? Oh, it's so nice to see you again, how are you?"

Audrey recognized the man as Remus Lupin. He had rather wispy hair, that was beginning to grey. He had reminded her of her own brother in that sense, though his excuse was obviously his lycanthropy. Remus was about three years older than Audrey. In fact, he had used to live in the same village as her during school, but moved away after graduating.

"I'm fine, Remus. I thought you were riding the Express?"

"Oh yes, I did. Adults are usually let off earlier than students, hence my being here. Shall we go down to the feast?"

Three floors later, they were in the antechamber, which was just behind the staff table. Remus had just finished telling Audrey about the Dementors invading the train. "So they're really here, then?"

"Yes, the Dementors will be stationed here for a while, so says Dumbledore," he said, holding the door open that led to the staff table.

Audrey and Remus then met with McGonagall, who was in a steady chat with Dumbledore. "Ah! Our two new professors! I see you've managed to bump into each other," the Headmaster said, his eyes twinkling. He was wearing a rather bright set of robes. They were a light shade of purple, and had golden stars scattered all about the fabric.

Audrey noticed that many of the older students were now beginning to make their way into the Great Hall. "Professors, let me show you to where you will be sitting," McGonagall said.

She led Remus to the chair on the left of where Dumbledore was sitting. Then, she brought Audrey to sit to the right of her, also next to Professor Vector, the Arithmacy Professor. Audrey saw that many of the missing professors were now filling in their seats.

One in particular had caught her attention.

He was wearing all black. He had a rather indifferent expression on his face. His hair was as dark as his robes. His eyes seemed to be scanning the staff table; when it looked as if he had turned away when he had reached Audrey's seat, she blushed slightly. The look on his face changed to become rather miserable when McGonagall seemed to speak with him, motioning to the seat beside Remus.

Audrey immediately transferred her attention to the Sorting Ceremony, and soon to Dumbledore, who was now making his start of term announcements. "…we have three new professors with us this year, I am joyous to announce. Professor R. J. Lupin," he motioned toward Remus, "will be teaching Defense Against The Arts. Professor Burke will be teaching Ancient Runes," the applause wasn't as loud for her as it seemed to be for Remus, "and I am delighted to announce that our new Care of Magical Creatures instructor will be none other than Rubeus Hagrid." The huge man that had led her up to the castle was sitting a few seats away, now wiping his eyes on his moleskin overcoat. The applause from the Gryffindor table was outstanding. Even Audrey herself felt happy for Hagrid.

Moments after concluding his speech, food and drink had immediately appeared on plates and in goblets. Audrey began to help herself to the steak-and-kidney pudding as Professor Vector had immediately begun to engage her in conversation.

"…you were such a brilliant student from what I remember, one of very few who completed their NEWT class with a passing grade. And it must be such a exciting thing, to be teaching here with people you went to school with. Oh, I remember you and that Snape walking in the halls together...I daresay, he's been teaching here almost ten years--"

"Excuse me, Professor? Did you say that _Severus_ _Snape_ is here?" Audrey said, swallowing a bit of mashed potatoes.

"Oh yes, dear, just take a glance down the staff table. See?"

It had finally hit her. The man in all black, with the expression of fury; that man was none other than Severus Snape.

"I can't believe it…" Audrey muttered to herself, trying her best not to let her eyes wander over to the opposite side of the staff table.


	4. Inevitable Encounter

-1Immediately following the dismissal of the Welcoming Feast, Audrey made her way up to her room as quickly as possible. Three minutes and an almost-broken femur later, she was safe, with a warm fire awaiting her. She collapsed onto her bed, both tired and slightly confused.

Thoughts began to floor her mind as she listened to the rain beginning to beat steadily against the glass of a stained glass window. Closing her eyes, she witnessed many unwelcoming thoughts starting to invade her mind.

_Why is Severus teaching here? I thought this would be the least likely of his career choices. It's not like the salary is the best there is, though it is better than most. But he's been here for almost ten years? That means he began teaching after the summer of my graduation. Why am I still dwelling on this?_

Audrey rolled over, staring out of a stain glass window. The rain was beginning to get even more violent; the cracking and rumbling of the thunder and lightening was beginning to get a bit eerie.

_Oh, I'll just get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day, after all…_

She slipped on a pair of warm, pajama bottoms and a gray wife beater. Yawning, Audrey closed her eyes, trying to block unpleasant thoughts from entering her mind. A few minutes later, she had fallen asleep, but not without the trace of tears coming from her eyes.

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Audrey awoke the next morning, more refreshed than usual. She took a hot shower in her bathroom and later slipped on a midnight blue gown. As she pulled her robe on her robe over her gown, she had noticed that a House Elf had already come in and made the bed, most likely during her shower.

Seeing as she didn't have to prepare for a morning class, Audrey decided to make her way down to breakfast in the Great Hall. Feeling a bit nervous than usual, she walked at a bit of a slower pace, so that maybe she wouldn't have to spend so much time at breakfast. When she entered the Great Hall, she entered from the front entrance, so that maybe should could catch a glimpse of her future students.

As she walked in between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff table, a young Gryffindor approached her. She had rather bushy hair and a rather interesting air about her.

"Hello, Professor Burke! I just wanted to say that I cannot wait until my first Ancient Runes class, I'm in your first class!"

Audrey felt a bit uneasy. "Oh, um, that's great!"

"I'm Hermione Granger by the way," the girl said, giving Audrey a big smile.

"Oh, come off it, Hermione, no one wants to see you sucking up to the new professor!" a red-headed boy who was sitting at the Gryffindor table said. Across from him was another boy, but he had messy black hair and was stirring his spoon around in his bowl of porridge. He seemed to be a bit preoccupied.

"Oh, Ron, you're such a bother!" Hermione turned back to Audrey.

"Well then, I guess I'll see you soon, Miss Granger," Audrey said, trying to drag herself away from the enthusiastic girl.

Hoping not to be run over once more by an overly-excited student, Audrey quickened her pace. She rapidly scanned the staff table. To her luck, she did not see Severus Snape. Seating herself in the seat beside Professor Sinistra, the forty-something Astronomy teacher, she took a bite of toast that was topped with marmalade. Washing it down with a cup of hot cider, she heard the bell ring.

The students immediately made their way out of the Great Hall, as did the professors. She made her way up to her classroom. When she had reached it, she found (not much to her surprise) that Hermione was the first one at the door. A few students were behind her, mostly thoughts of other houses. A boy with pale blonde hair was whispering something at a tall black boy, both in Slytherin, pointing at Hermione. They both sniggered.

Audrey dismissed this and opened the door to the classroom, motioning for the students to enter. She walked to the front of the room and grabbed a piece of chalk that sat on the tray. On the board, she wrote, **Professor Audrey Burke**. She then turned toward the class. On her desk was a piece of parchment, with the names of all the students who were supposed to be in that class. She began to call roll.

"Hannah Abbot?" A blonde girl with pigtails raised her hand. She seemed rather shy.

"Susan Bones?" She had recognized her surname, because her aunt worked with the Ministry. Susan was a round-faced girl with dark brown hair that was worn in a plait. Susan raised her hand. She and Abbott were both in Hufflepuff.

A few names later, she had reached, "Hermione Granger?" In the front row sat the very same bushy-haired girl, grinning. Instead of just raising her hand like everyone else, she said, "Present!"

Soon, she had reached, "Draco Malfoy?" and the pale blonde boy nodded at her. He seemed to her to be rather arrogant.

_A Slytherin. Of course._

She had also learned that the black boy who he had been talking to was Blaise Zabini. She wanted to keep an eye on them, because to her, they seemed like the type to cause a bit of trouble. She had also noticed that Theodore Nott and Daphne Greengrass seemed a bit more than comfortable in each other's presence. She wanted to keep an eye on those two also.

"Hello, my name is Professor Burke. Of course, you might already know that…anyways, it seems that Professor Babbling had to retire due to personal reasons. You all being third years is a positive aspect, of course, meaning we can all start on a clean slate. Now," Audrey said, drawing out her wand, "first, I want you all to start up on this warm-up. You may use your copy of _Ancient Runes Made Easy_, of course, to translate these ancient Norse runes into old proverbs," she then flicked her want and on the board had appeared a couple of lines in ancient Norse symbols, not unlike those she had previously found on her key.

The sound that followed was the scribbling of quill tips against parchment and the turning of pages. Audrey had noticed that Hermione didn't even need to use her textbook. After almost ten minutes, everyone had finished and Audrey had revealed the translation onto the board. The runes had automatically translated into English.

**He that learns naught will never know how one**

**is the fool of another, for if one be rich another is**

**poor and for that should bear no blame.**

The rest of the class had gone rather smoothly, despite the occasionally scoffing from Zabini and Malfoy. She had even threatened detention if they were to continue their rude behavior. By the time lunchtime had arrived, Audrey had finished up teaching her second class, a group of Fifth Years.

When Audrey was walking to lunch, she saw that Lupin was a bit ahead of her in the corridor. She sped up to catch up with him. He greeted her with his usual weary smile. "So how was your first two classes?" he asked.

"Oh, they were pretty great. What about yours?"

"Fine, fine. We were discussing boggarts in the last class."

When they had reached the first floor, they saw Severus was coming out of the dungeons entrance and walking towards the Great Hall. Much to Audrey's disdain, Remus had called out to him. "Hello there, Severus! How was your first day back?"

Severus had replied with no words, but instead of a scowl. He continued on his way to the Great Hall, as did Remus and Audrey. Sitting together on the opposite side of the table to where Severus was, Remus said, "It's strange, you know? I never pictured him taking up work here."

Audrey looked over at Severus, who was in conversation with McGonagall.

"Yeah…yeah, me neither."

**A/N - Is it me, or is this going a bit slow? I think this chapter was a bit of a time-passer. I mean, I want to get Severus and Audrey talking to each other, but every time I do, I chicken out for some odd reason. In your reviews, leave me some suggestions, because I could very much use some!**


	5. Unbelievable Conversation

-1Almost two weeks after the start of term, Audrey had started to really get a grip on teaching. In her third year class, she was now teaching about the ancient Nordic symbols. On one particular Tuesday, she was quizzing the class on their translations.

"And what would this line translate into?" Audrey asked, scanning the classroom, with her wand pointed at a line of symbols on the chalkboard. As usual, Hermione Granger's hand flew into the air.

Audrey sighed. She had tried to avoid calling her all period so that some other students could get some credit. But this time, no one else had raised their hand. She had no other choice.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"The first line would be translated into the proverb '_Blind is a man without a book_.' It is of Norse and Icelandic origin," Hermione said confidently.

"Yes, you are correct, Miss Granger." Impressed by the fact that she even added the origin of the proverb, Audrey added "Five points to Gryffindor." Audrey noticed Hermione's smile and felt that she had a right to be proud - she was the only Gryffindor in the room.

Sitting in the back of the room was Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini, chuckling and glancing in Hermione's direction. She heard Malfoy say, "Well, she _is _a Mudblood!" a bit louder than he may have intended to. Audrey knew that Hermione was a Muggleborn.

"Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Zabini! That is the last of numerous times that you will interrupt this class. Rest assured, I will be having a talk with your Head of House, so that further punishment will be issued and maybe that will cease your constant disruptions. Also, I will be taking five points from Slytherin. Each."

A Slytherin-charged groan had filled the back of the room, which was immediately joined in by Theodore Nott and Daphne Greengrass. Ignoring the complaining, Audrey continued on with the lesson. "Now, your homework will be to write fourteen inches of parchment on the history of Scandinavian runes. Extra credit will be given to whoever can write the English alphabet in Norse runes at the end of the essay."

A few minutes later, class was dismissed. Hermione had caught Audrey's eye. "Um, Hermione, can I have a word?"

She walked with Hermione off to the side of the classroom. "Hermione, I wanted to talk to you about--"

"Oh, professor! If it's about my recent lack of dedication to the work--"

"It's not Hermione, you're doing quite well. I just wanted to let you know that if Draco and Blaise cause you any more grief, don't hesitate to let me know."

Hermione smiled. "Thank you, professor. I really appreciate it."

"Oh, it's no problem at all," Audrey assured her.

She dismissed Hermione as the Fifth Years began to spill into the room. Fred and George Weasley approached her.

"Erm, professor we were wondering…" Fred said, being cut off by his twin brother George.

"…if you would care to try out a Canary Cream?" She had recently gotten used to their odd habit of finishing each other's sentences.

"No thank you, boys. Still full from breakfast," she said, turning towards the board. She smiled to herself, knowing it was one of the Weasley pranksters' little jokes.

When the lunch bell rang, the Fifth years sped out of the room. When she had reached the second floor, she spotted Professor McGonagall. Figuring that it would be a good chance to ask her who the Head of Slytherin was, Audrey walked faster to catch up with her.

Telling her about the chaos that Zabini and Malfoy were causing in her class, McGonagall answered, "Oh, I can take care of it if you'd like for me to. It would be absolutely no problem at all, I assure you."

"It's fine, Minerva. I just wanted to have a word with their Head of House, so that maybe a further punishment could be issued."

McGonagall looked slightly taken back. "Oh…well then you might want to speak with Professor Snape. He's the Slytherin Head."

Audrey's stomach jumped. But, she knew that she had to cease the Slytherin boys' constant disruption in her classroom. "Thank you, Minerva. I will do that."

When Audrey entered the Great Hall for lunch, she took a seat next to Professor Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies instructor. To her utter dismay, Severus had soon seated himself on the opposite side of Burbage after having a word with McGonagall.

_Oh, thank you so much, Minerva. Just what I needed._

To even further annoy Audrey, Burbage had glanced at her pocket watch and stood up without warning. Apparently, she had forgotten to do something, because she sped out of the Great Hall and didn't even glance back.

_Is everyone here against me, or what?_

Audrey had thanked the stars that she hadn't eaten anything, because if she did, it'd most likely be galloping up her throat right now. Suddenly, a male voice had tore her from her thoughts.

"Professor McGonagall said that two students in my House were disrupting your class and you wanted to discuss an appropriate punishment."

Audrey turned her head over to see that even thought Severus was still looking forward, he was addressing her.

"Uh, yes. Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy had called Hermione Granger a Mudblood in the middle of class today. As you and I both know that that turn is less than appropriate for everyday conversation, I wanted to discuss what to do about the two boys."

For a moment, there was silence between them. Then, Severus spoke back. "I suggest that you assign them detention, Professor Burke. You are, after all, a teacher." The spite in his voice was peaking.

"Of course I shall, Professor Snape. I just thought it wise to address the issue to their Head of House."

"Well then, you should think about it more thoroughly before taking action, Professor Burke," he said. As soon as he finished, he got up, and her eyes followed him out of the Great Hall.

Audrey could not believe the conversation that she just had.

_Well, that could have gone better…_

**A/N - Yes, it was very short. Don't worry, please expect another chapter by tonight. :-)**


	6. Dreaming of an Angel

-1The next couple of days didn't serve Audrey any justice. After giving Malfoy and Zabini detentions with Mr. Filch, she was in a rather dangerous mood.

The only thing that seemed to be contending with Audrey's mood was the weather. For almost the entire week it poured, with the rumbling of thunder heard everywhere she went. On the Thursday after the talk she had with Severus, she was in her classroom, setting up for the next class of NEWT students. It was during the period after lunch, which had served as one of her few free times.

In her right hand was an opened copy of _Advanced Translations_ by Muriel Raines, and in her left was a piece of chalk that was scribbling notes to her lecture on the board. She was so distracted by the sound of the chalk scraping on the board that she did not here anyone enter. Closing the book and quickly scanning the board, she gave herself a small nod of approval and turned around to put the book back on her desk.

Sitting in one of the front seats was someone who she hadn't ever guessed. It was Severus Snape. He was absentmindedly flipping through a Runes dictionary, as if he had indeed belonged there. Without looking up, he spoke.

"Professor Burke, I wanted to have a word." He turned another page. For a moment there was silence between them.

Stepping forward to set down the book she had, Audrey hesitated before speaking. "If you were wondering, Professor Snape, I have not deducted points from your students since earlier this week. No need to worry about it."

"That's not why I'm here, professor," he said, closing the book with a snap. He looked up at her. "I'm here because I wanted to apologize for my…rude behavior on Tuesday."

For a moment, Audrey couldn't believe her ears. Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin House, and terror of all terrors, apologize to her?

"Oh, you don't have to, professor. No need at all."

"Well, I would just walk right out of this classroom, Professor Burke, but of course, I do find that my job does hold some satisfaction on my part."

Audrey understood completely. "So Dumbledore put you up to this?"

He gave a slight nod. "Yes, he did. But, I must admit, I was acting rather foolish."

With a swift movement, he got up from the desk, and walked over to her. "So, do you accept my apology, Professor Burke?" he extended his right hand, as if waiting for her to shake it. She smiled slightly.

"Yes, Professor Snape, I accept your somewhat-dull apology, no matter how meaningless it may seem," Audrey said in a rather sarcastic tone, as she raised her hand and shook his.

"I must be getting back, the bell should be ringing any moment, Professor Burke," he said, letting go of her hand quickly.

"Oh, just call me Audrey. And yes, the bell should be ringing any moment now…"

"Well then, Prof-- Audrey, I must bid you farewell," and with that, Severus walked out of the door.

"Farewell…Severus," Audrey muttered.

Turning back to the board, she smiled to herself. Her day had just been made a lot better.

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Severus Snape walked into his office, seating himself at his desk. In front of him was a stack of second year essays on the magical properties of unicorn horns and their uses in potion making. Not in the mood for savagely degrading the essays, pushed them away.

Closing his eyes, he sat back in his chair. He could hear the thunder from above. The weather did not seem like it was going to cease anytime soon. Sighing, Severus closed his once more, and escaped the surroundings of his office.

"_Eh, Snivellus!" Sixteen year old Severus was walking down the Charms corridor, heading for the Grand Staircase._

_Behind him was James Potter and Sirius Black, partners in crime and bastards to the core. Quickening his pace, Severus thought that he could escape their torments, just this once, by disappearing into a crowd of third years, who were just dismissed from Defense Against the Dark Arts._

_Though he was much taller than the third years, Severus seemed to have lost Potter and Black. In front of him were two girls, both from Ravenclaw, discussing the newest additions to the Gobstones Team._

"…_I mean, Marcus is such a prat, don't you think? I have absolutely no idea how he made it onto the team!" said the prettiest of the two, a blonde girl with bright blue eyes and golden skin._

"_Yeah, but still, his girlfriend -- Rhonda Scrimgeour I think her name is -- is best friends with the captain, and you know, her father is the Head of the Auror Department and all," the plainer of the two said, sighing. "It must be great to have parents with connections."_

"_Oh, don't say that, Audrey. You're brilliant at Gobstones, and everybody knows it. You got onto the team because of talent, not because of who your father is."_

"_Thanks, Alexis, I --" but she was interrupted by the sound of Severus' schoolbag ripping, and all of his quills and school books falling onto the stairs."_

_The girl who was called Audrey turned around and immediately began to help him gather up all of his stuff._

"_Go on ahead, Alexis, you'll be late for Herbology! Just tell Professor Sprout that I forgot my book in the dorm and went back to get it."_

"_Oh…alright…" the blonde girl said, continuing her way down the stairs._

_Severus had finally seen the girl's face. He had recognized her has Cillian Burke's (a boy who shared his dorm) sister._

"_You alright?" she said, handing him the his _Advanced Potions _book. She wiped back the mass of brown hair that was falling into her face, back._

"_Err…yeah, thanks."_

"_Oooh, nice going, Snivellus, you've finally snagged a girl!" he could hear Sirius Black's voice behind him. Audrey was looking up at him._

"_Sirius, you're such a git. I'm surprised you haven't landed yourself a cell in Azkaban because of that oversized mouth of yours."_

"_Keep saying that, Audrey. You know you wouldn't mind me taking you out one of these days."_

"_Oh, keep on wishing, Sirius."_

"_Well, you know what? James and I will catch you two lovebirds later," Sirius said, walking past them._

_When they were out of earshot, Audrey looked up at Severus. "Aren't you friends with my brother?"_

_Severus rubbed his neck. "Yes, kind of. Thanks for…"_

"_Oh, it's no problem at all!" she said, taking at her wand and aiming it at the rip in his bag. "_Reparo_," and with that, the rip in his bag was gone and it was as though he had not been torn at all._

"_T-thanks," Severus muttered stuffing his books back into the bag._

"_I'm Audrey, by the way. Well, it's actually Audrea, but everyone calls me Audrey." She extended her hand out._

_Shaking it, he said, "I'm Severus."_

Severus' eyes suddenly opened and he found that he was in his office again. He got up from his desk and made his way to his private rooms. Laying down in his bed, he closed his eyes for what he had hoped was the final time that night.

"_So…how does it feel to be a Hogwarts graduate?" the fifteen year old Audrey had asked him._

_They were sitting on a bench, at Platform 9 ¾. Audrey wasn't looking him in the eye. They both looked up to see that Alexis (Audrey's best friend) and Cillian were walking by, chatting animatedly and holding hands. They had gotten together just after the summer, almost a year before._

_Severus had noticed that tears were beginning to fill her eyes, but she casually wiped them away with the sleeve of her blouse. _

_They both looked up to see James Potter and Lily Evans holding hands and smiling at each other. Severus looked down at once._

"_I'm sorry," Audrey murmured, just low enough for him to hear._

"_It's not your fault."_

"_No, Severus. I'm sorry that James stole Lily away. I knew you…loved her…" her voice was beginning to crack up._

_Then, it finally hit him. After all of this time, he finally realized what was going on with Audrey for the past year, why she practically grimaced in Lily's presence. _

_Audrey had loved him too, a bit more than more of a friendship-fueled love._

"_Hey, Audrey, you comin'?" Cillian called to her. Far away, their parents were just coming into view. From what Severus could see, Audrey and her mother had the same chocolate brown hair. _

_At once, Severus and Audrey stood up. She still didn't look at him._

"_Well…this is goodbye, I guess…" she said, holding out her hand. It had reminded him of when they first met._

"_Yeah. It was…erm…nice knowing you Audrey…" he was never very good at goodbyes. He reached out for her hand, but instead of getting a hand, Audrey crashed into him, crying._

_After a moment or two, she backed away, composing herself. "Oh, Severus, I'm so sorry. It's just that…that I may never see you again and…"_

_Her hazel eyes looked up into his black ones. To him, she looked absolutely beautiful. Though her hair was a completely wreck and her cheeks were discolored from crying, to him, she was an angel._

Bolting straight up, Severus awoke again. His breathing was heavy and he was sweating immensely.

Images from his most recent dream ran through his head.

"But that was a long time ago," he said to himself, shutting his eyes and hoping that he'd get enough sleep until dawn came.

**A/N - Yes, finally you now know some of the history behind Audrey and Severus. Happy? Haha. Anyways, I am working on writing long chapters, so just hang in there. :-) PS - I'd really appreciate reviews on this chapter, because this was probably the most difficult to write.**


	7. Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child

-1Over the next couple of days, the daylight hours started to become shorter, as well as more frigid. Audrey had given both Zabini and Malfoy detention, and on the Friday afternoon that they were assigned to it, she had asked them to report to the library.

"Madam Pince would like these books in alphabetical order, under my supervision," she said, when they reached a secluded part of the library. The section was marked by a sign that read, **HISTORICAL HERBOLOGY HANDBOOKS**.

Audrey took a seat near where the two boys were grudgingly organizing the books. She began looking through an old textbook, just so she wouldn't grow bored easily. She wanted to keep the two boys in detention for as long as possible.

After almost half an hour, Audrey spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Moving towards her was Severus. He had the usual I-don't-give-a-damn expression on his face.

"Oh, I wasn't aware that you could read in English, Professor Burke," he had said in his usual sarcastic tone.

"That's a funny thing to say, Professor Snape, considering the fact that I do have two of your own students serving a detention. Wouldn't want to say something that they could possibly repeat, now would you?" Audrey snarled.

She could hear Malfoy and Zabini stopping what they were doing, because the constant shuffling of heavy books had ceased. Audrey slightly turned her head. "Get back to work, boys. Your Head of House may be present, but you are under my supervision."

Looking back up at Severus, Audrey noticed that it had almost looked like he was smiling, though the smile was very slight.

"What can I do for you, professor?" she asked, grinning.

"Nothing worth breaking your back over, I assure you. I just wanted to check up and see that you were giving my students a just punishment."

"Oh? And have I achieved the status of just punisher?"

"Only barely, Professor Burke, only barely. You have much to learn, and trust me on this -- sparing the rod and spoiling the child will grow weary after a while."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just commenting your…ah, choice of punishment. If I were you, I would have given Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Zabini harsher punishments than re-organizing bookshelves."

Audrey paused before speaking.

_Maybe he's right on that one. Calling a girl a vulgar name is a rather serious offense._

"Thank you for the advice, professor. Whenever I need to assign detention again, I'll be sure to ask what exactly the correct punishment would be, according to their actions."

Severus walked away and out of the library. Audrey was almost perfectly sure that as he turned away, she saw a smirk crawl onto his face.

_He's a rather snarky one, isn't he?_

"…I mean, it's so bloody obvious that she fancies him…" Audrey heard Zabini mutter to Malfoy.

"If I were you, boys, I wouldn't tread on thin ice," she said strictly.

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A week later, Audrey was walking to breakfast. She was very tired. She had spent the day before with her brother, who was in London. It was her twenty-eighth birthday, something she had rarely ever celebrated.

Sighing, Audrey recalled the conversation between her and her brother.

_The Leaky Cauldron wasn't very busy for the first time in ages. Audrey was sitting at a table, across from a man who clearly looked much older than her, though in reality he was only her senior by a couple of years._

_Audrey had noticed that the lines in his face were even more defined than they were when she had since her brother last, in the summer. His hair was still a light brown color, though wisps of grey were starting to appear. His once bright blue eyes were now turning into a dull ash color._

"_So, are you enjoying your new job?" the man said, his lips very moving._

"_Yes, it's very fulfilling, I think. What about you, Cillian, are you doing alright?"_

"_I like to think so, Audrey," he took a sip of tea from the cup in front of him._

"_Are you taking your potions?"_

"_Only when I really need to."_

"_Cillian! That's not fair at all, you know that isn't! When I last saw you, I made you a year's supply. It will help you with your depression, trust me it will."_

"_But it won't bring Alexis back, Audrey. What's the point? Just tell me, what's the bloody point?" Cillian's voice was beginning to strain. It was almost heartbreaking to Audrey._

"_Listen, Cillian," Audrey lowered her voice, "please…please, take the potions. For me. I care about you. If something happened to you, I don't know what I'd do. You can't leave me in this world alone."_

_He just leaned back in his chair and didn't dare make eye contact with her. "You're going to have to live without me someday, trust me on that one."_

Coming back into reality, Audrey shivered, pulling her robe closer around her. Today was the students' first Hogsmeade weekend. She was looking forward to a quiet day. She wasn't signed up as a chaperone for this weekend, but instead the one just before the Christmas holidays.

Walking into the Great Hall, she noticed almost all of the students were dressed in Muggle clothing for the Hogsmeade trip. She, of course, was not, and instead was dressed in a grayish violet gown and black robe.

Sitting herself next to Remus, she took a piece of toast and spread it some marmalade on it. When she bit into it, Remus turned to her.

"Audrey, would you care to have a cup of tea with me in my office?"

"Oh, um, sure, Remus."

After breakfast, as Audrey and Remus were walking toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts corridor, they ran into a boy with messy black hair and glasses. "Oh, Harry! Hello. Would you care to join Professor Burke and I for a cup of tea, in my office?"

"Err…sure, professor."

Harry followed Audrey and Remus to the office. When they entered it, Remus motioned for them to sit down. They both sat down in front of the fireplace, was a fire was burning fiercely.

Audrey looked over and saw that on the other wall was a tank, and inside it was a grindylow. After a few minutes of silence, Remus came back with three cups of hot, steaming tea.

"Harry, have you met Professor Burke? She teaches Ancient Runes."

The boy with the messy hair glanced over at her, then back at Remus. "Er, no, professor. But Hermione says a lot of nice things about her."

"Oh, Hermione? Yes, she's an excellent student."

"Professor Burke, I don't believe you two have been formally introduced. This is Harry Potter, James' son."

"You knew my father?" the boy's head perked up in interest.

"Yes, I did. He was a few years older than I, in my brother's year. I think I knew Lily best, though," Audrey said, then taking a sip of tea. "Charming woman, your mother," she muttered absentmindedly.

After a brief silence, the door to Remus' office opened, and in walked Severus. He was carrying a goblet and steam was coming from it.

"Thanks much, Severus. You can just set it on the desk, over there."

Placing the steaming cup onto the desk, Severus turned towards the three. His eyes went from Audrey, to Remus, to Harry, and back to Audrey. Finally, he spoke. "I made a cauldron-full if you need more, Lupin."

"Thanks, Severus. I might take some more tomorrow."

He then turned and left the room, but not without Audrey's eyes following him.

After a few minutes of Harry and Remus conversing, he dismissed Harry and Audrey, saying he needed to get back to work.

Audrey stayed behind, though. Lowering her voice, she said, "So, Severus is brewing the Wolfsbane Potion for you?" she asked.

"Yes. You remember that I wasn't much of a potion maker. I'm lucky to be working beside such a man."

Nodding, Audrey walked out of the classroom.

Just as she turned a corridor, she could have sworn that she saw a large, black dog. Dismissing the thought, she made her way back to her office.

**PS - bear in mind, if you ever want to know when I might put up the next chapter of this story, refer back to my author page and it'll tell you at the bottom of my bio.**


	8. Misunderstood Suspicions

-1That night, after the students had returned from Hogsmeade and dinner was finished, Audrey was walking up the Grand Staircase to her office. Just as she was about to turn onto the fourth floor, she noticed that a few floors up, the Gryffindors were all standing at their potrait hole. She heard some girls gasp.

"Get Professor Dumbledore…quick!" she heard the Head Boy, Percy say over the Gryffindors' voices.

She had noticed that Professor Dumbledore was already climbing up the stairs, with Filch, Remus, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Severus following. They had passed by as if they hadn't noticed her, and Remus made a motion for her to follow. Joining the company of the teachers, she followed them up the seventh floor potrait hole.

When they had reached the crowd in front of the potrait hole, the students moved aside for Dumbledore. Audrey made a barely audible gasp when she saw what the Gryffindors were gaping at.

The potrait that had previously contained a woman that let the students in by password, but now it had various slashes on the canvas, and the woman was missing. Dumbledore ran his hand over the ripped potrait, examining it. Then, he turned.

"Mr. Filch! Round up the ghosts. Tell them to search every painting in the castle to find the Fat Lady."

"There's no need, your Headship," a voice cackled.

Everyone looked up to see that Peeves the Poltergeist was floating in the air. Dumbledore took a step toward him, as if he could decipher what he had meant.

"What do you mean, Peeves?" he asked calmly, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred.

"Ashamed, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She was last seen on the fourth floor, running through the trees on the landscape. Feel a bit bad for the poor thing, me-self."

"Did she ever mention who did this dreadful thing to her canvas?"

"Oh yes, Headmaster. A man, it was. Got awfully mad when she wouldn't let him into the common room. He's got a nasty temper, that Sirius Black."

For a moment, Audrey felt a bit sick. Students began to speak amongst themselves in low, hushed tones.

"Mr. Filch, secure the castle. The rest of you, to the Great Hall!"

The Gryffindors had made their way back to the Great Hall, with the teachers walking behind them. Dumbledore had called the professors to him.

"Minerva and Filius, would you kindly patrol the first, second, and third floor?" he turned to McGonagall and Flitwick. They nodded and had both walked out of the Great Hall when Dumbledore had then turned to the remaining three. "Remus, Audrey, please patrol the fourth and fifth floor. I will have Mr. Filch do the top floors, the Astronomy Tower, and the owlery. And Severus," he asked, turning to Severus, "would you patrol the dungeons?" Wordlessly, Severus nodded. "If any of you have any problems, don't hesitate to send your Patronus."

Audrey and Remus had made their way to the fourth floor.

"I just can't believe that Sirius escaped from Azkaban," Audrey muttered to Remus as they turned a corridor. "Wasn't he one of their high-security prisoners?"

"Yes, I do believe he was. It's highly unusual if someone could get past Dementors, especially with no wand."

For a couple of hours, Remus and Audrey had patrolled the fourth and fifth floors (which did, to the dismay of Audrey, involve them splitting up), and at about two in the morning, they started to make their way back to the Great Hall.

When they had gotten there, Audrey saw that not only Gryffindor students were there, asleep of course, but also the other Houses. She saw that off to the side of the Hall, Dumbledore and Severus were talking in low voices. Audrey followed Lupin toward the two.

"Professor Dumbledore, we've patrolled the fourth and fifth floors. There is nothing there," Remus whispered looking around at the sleeping students.

"Yes, yes, very good, professors. You both may be excused. Though, please be on your guard for the rest of the night. No precaution should be overlooked."

Remus nodded and walked out of the Great Hall. Audrey, on the other hand, remained. "Headmaster?"

"Yes, Audrey?"

The question of Remus' previous friendship with Sirius Black had been burning in her mind for almost the entire night.

She lowered her voice. "Do you think Remus has anything to do with tonight's events?" Audrey noticed that even Severus looked a bit surprised, and he too looked over at Dumbledore.

"No, Audrey, I do not think that Professor Lupin, nor any other Hogwarts staff member would aid Sirius Black into the castle."

"Oh. I was just wondering, Headmaster--"

"And curiosity is not a sin, Audrey. You weren't the only one who has asked," and then Dumbledore glanced over at Severus.

"Thank you, Professor. If I may be excused, I'll go and get some sleep."

Dumbledore nodded and she turned to make her way out of the Great Hall.

Just as she was about to exit the Hall, she heard Severus mutter, "I still think that she, or Lupin, has a role in tonight's events."

"Oh, Severus, you're not easily satisfied?" Dumbledore chuckled.

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The rest of the weekend was dimmed because of Saturday night's events. By the time Monday came around, everyone was either too paranoid to even look at you, or sharing their theories on how Sirius Black could have gotten into the castle.

Personally, Audrey didn't want to hear a word of it, because it all made her completely nervous. When Wednesday had rolled around, she was notified that there would be a teacher's meeting.

When she reached the Staff Room, she took a seat next to Remus and McGonagall. After everyone had made it into the room, Dumbledore called for attention.

"I wanted to discuss the recent events of this previous weekend," he announced in his calm voice.

The entire meeting had consisted of debates and theories. Audrey was probably the only one who had remained silent throughout the entire time.

"Audrey, you have yet to contribute any of your ideas to the discussion," Dumbledore said. Suddenly, all eyes rested on hers.

"Well, Headmaster, personally I don't care how he got in. I just hope he gets caught as soon as possibly. Because of him, I think we all live in a mutual suspicion of each other, and I have grown ill of it." Her eyes had met Severus'.

"Very well-spoken, Audrey, I must say. Well, I must dismiss this meeting. Dinnertime is hastily approaching."

Everyone simultaneously got up from their seats and filed out of the room. Audrey made her way toward the Great Hall. Much to her surprise, Severus was walking beside her.

"So, you suspect me, Professor Snape? I must ask what would make you think that I am capable of such nonsense."

"Oh, Professor Burke, I think you know why my suspicions are what they are. You are _friends _with that Lupin, aren't you?" he said, glancing over at Remus, who was ahead of them.

"Yes, I am friends with Remus. And I don't appreciate you're tone, professor." Audrey started to walk ahead of him, but then, something happened.

Severus grabbed her upper arm, stopping her dead in her tracks. He hissed, "Need I remind you that Lupin was good friends with the traitor, Sirius Black? If you're a friend of one, then you're friends with them all." Anger blazed in his black eyes, "And I know you. You'd do anything to support your _lover_," he spat the word with disgust, "Even if that meant hiding his fugitive under your bed."

Audrey's eyes grew wide with shock. _He thought Lupin was my lover?_

"Suffice it to say, professor, that is not what is going on. If I were you, I'd do well to observe instead of convict."

And with that, Audrey sped ahead of Severus, leaving him to dwell on what she had just said.


	9. Revelations Through Veritaserum

-1Severus stirred the potion once more. Taking out the stirring rod, he awaited the clear, watery look that signified its completion. A foray of triumph had overcome him as he began to pour the Verituserum into a small vial. Carefully moving over towards the steaming goblet on his desk, he poured the colorless liquid into the Wolfsbane Potion.

He heard a knock at his door. "Come in," he growled.

Lupin walked into the office, looking rather ragged. The full moon was hastily approaching. Severus had told him to come by the dungeons to pick up his Wolfsbane Potion for tonight's transformation.

"I'm here to pick up my Wolfsbane Potion, Severus."

"It's right there, Lupin, on my desk. I think it'd be best if you drink it now. Wouldn't want a nasty accident to happen on the way to your office, now would you?"

"Right you are, Severus," Lupin said, bringing the goblet to his chapped lips. Severus turned away for a moment to hide his smirk. When he had downed the potion, he set the goblet down.

"Lupin, can I have a word?" Severus asked, turning to him. Lupin looked at him from the doorway from which he was about to exit.

"Yes, sure, Severus." Lupin walked toward him. "About what?"

"I want to ask you a few questions about our _dear _colleague, Professor Burke."

"Oh, sure."

"Are you in a relationship with her, whether it be romantic or sexual?"

"No, of course not, Severus," Lupin said confidently.

"Well, then, do you _want _to be in a relationship with her?" Severus asked.

"No, Severus, we're only friends. I daresay, I don't think I've ever thought about her as such."

"Did either you, or Professor Burke, have any to do with the break in of Sirius Black?"

"Of course not."

"Very well, then, Lupin," he said, taking out his wand.

"Severus, what are you doing?" he asked, taking a step back.

"Just ensuring that this little chat will not escape the confines of this office," Severus said, raising his wand. "_Obliviate_!"

For a moment, Lupin looked sick. Then, he looked up at Severus. "Severus? What happened?"

"Oh, Lupin, you look sick. You should get back to your office. It's a full moon tonight, remember?"

"Yes, yes…right. Thank you for the potion, Severus," Lupin said, walking out of the office in a hurry.

"Not at all, not at all…" Severus said, seating himself at his desk.

8080808080808080

The air of late October was not approaching unnoticed. That was the first thing Audrey noticed when she woke up on the morning of the last Sunday of the month. The night before had been a full moon, and she was a bit worried about Remus. When she was walking back to her office, they ran into each other and he seemed a bit anxious.

Throwing the sheets and blankets off of her, she got out of bed and walked over to the wardrobe, shivering. She pulled off her pajamas and pulled on a grayish blue gown and her usual black wool robe.

When she was done dressing and getting ready for the day, she heard the clock tower toll. It was nine o'clock. Today, she had to chaperone a study hall session with another teacher, in the Great Hall. She had intentionally missed out on breakfast because she was just too tired.

She made her way down to the Great Hall in an awkward daze. When she had entered the Hall, Audrey noticed that mostly Fifth and Seventh years were seated in the Hall, while there were a few other students scattered about.

Looking ahead at the front of the Hall, Audrey saw Severus. Obviously he was the teacher who was also chaperoning the session. Sighing, she remembered that it would last until lunchtime.

Trying not to make eye contact with Severus, Audrey began walking along the tables where many students were scribbling away notes or scanning textbook pages.

After an hour, she was helping a fourth year with History of Magic homework. She was sitting across from him, and was running a hand through her hair. He was completely hopeless, or at least he wasn't even trying.

"…well, then, who was the most famous wizard to use the Flame-Freezing Charm during the Salem Witch Trials? Any ideas? Any at all?" she pressed, eyeing the boy.

"No…um…I think I remember this from last year. Uh…"

While the boy was still contemplating, Audrey looked up to see Severus slowly passing behind him. He looked her in the eye and smirked. Rolling her eyes at him, she looked back down at the boy.

"It was Wendelin the Weird, Troy. _Wendelin the Weird_. Remember that, and you'll score high on your next test," she told him irritably.

"Right…" he muttered under his breath. Sighing again, Audrey got up to help the next student.

808080808080808080

Almost ten minutes later, she walked to the front of the Great Hall. Most of the students had left now, and the only ones that were hadn't yet were all sitting towards the back of the Hall, far from earshot.

Off to the side of the Hall, Severus was walking towards her, with a look of sickening satisfaction on his face. It had, in some fashion, disturbed her a bit. He stood next to her, surveying the Hall.

"Very recently, I've had the privilege to speak with Lupin."

"Oh?" Audrey inquired. "And what did he say?"

"Let's just say that I may have been wrong about my accusations toward your…_relationship_."

"Professor Snape, you might find this rather surprising, but there is no sort of relationship between Remus and I. For God's sake, I haven't seen him for thirteen years, and let's just say he's not the only one I had the privilege to meet again."

He slightly turned his head in her direction. "If you're implying that I'm the only one who has changed, then you are sorely mistaken, Professor Burke."

"Oh, am I, Professor Snape? Tell me, how have I changed in any way?"

"Well, apart from your lack of credibility to even be an Ancient Runes instructor--"

"_Lack of credibility? _It may pain you to remember, but I was one of the very best students in that subject when in school!"

"--And your unprofessional behavior."

"Excuse me? What on earth do I do that counts as 'unprofessional behavior'?" Audrey was staring into his eyes, trying not to break contact.

"Well, firstly, you are terrible at disciplining your students."

"Oh, so I guess if I don't cause them pain, then no gain for me, then?"

"What I'm trying to say is that you should reconsider your disciplinary tactics."

Audrey sighed deeply. "Professor, my punishments are my business, and yours are your business. And I'm just going to leave it at that."

"Fine. I'm just giving you an ample bit of advice."

"And I appreciate that, I really do, but now you know that I don't want your advice."

Severus narrowed his eyes. "Fine."

He shook his head suddenly as if to clear it. Spotting two girls whispering in the corner, he marched off to discipline them, leaving Audrey alone with her thoughts.

_What on earth just happened?_ Audrey thought to herself while watching Snape give each of the girls a week's worth of detentions. Her eyes lingered on Severus, watching how he tipped his head to the side slightly as he bent over the two rather wide-eyed looking girls.

Severus looked up and their eyes met. Audrey, however, looked down quickly and nervously tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Before Severus could approach her, the bell rang, and Audrey fled to her rooms.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

**A/N - Yes, I am aware that their relationship is very slowly building. It's making me ill too. Anyways, leave me reviews! Constructive critisism welcomed. Also, my good friend Indigoenigma helps me with a lot of my writer's block on this story, so kudos to her:)**


	10. Familiar Glances Over Breakfast

-1"Excuse me, Audrey? Audrey?" Audrey snapped out of a sleepy daze to find that Remus' hand was on her shoulder.

"Yeah, sorry Remus, what is it?"

"Could you pass the kedgeree? It's on your other side."

"Sure," she said, reaching over for the silver platter.

Audrey hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, because she was grading essays. The one that had kept her up was Hermione Granger's, which was over a foot longer than what she had originally assigned to the class.

Stifling a yawn, Audrey began to pick apart her muesli with her fork. From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw someone looking at her from the other side of the table, but ignored it because she thought it was a result of her morning fatigue.

It was the first of November. Outside, a cold sleet had been falling for two days now, while the inside of the castle was being warmed by every fireplace that could be found. Audrey took a sip from her goblet-full of hot coffee.

Looking over at the other side of the table, Audrey's eyes suddenly met with Severus'. He wouldn't look away and neither did Audrey. He had a rather familiar look in his eyes. She had definitely seen it before.

For almost a full minute, they just stared at each other. When he finally looked away, she still looked at him from where she was sitting.

_Why was he looking at me? Is there something wrong with my face?_

"Erm, Remus, is there something on my face?"

"No, there isn't. Why?"

"Oh…pure curiosity."

_Well, then why was he staring at me? _

Audrey sighed and began to rub her temples. She had a very bad headache starting to form. Audrey leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.

_Fifteen year old Audrey yawned. She had spent the entire night working on her properties of moonstones essay for her fourth year Potions class that day. It was breakfast time, and she was now looking over her Arithmacy notes for the test that was in half an hour._

"_Hey Audrey," her best friend Alexis greeted her._

_Audrey looked up from her notes to see Alexis sitting down beside her, shuffling an apple between her hands. "Not worried about that Arithmacy thing, are you?"_

"_Easy for you to say, Alexis, you don't even take that class," she mumbled, looking back down at her notes._

"_So did you finish that essay for Potions?" Alexis asked, taking a small bite out of the apple._

_Audrey's yawn had answered the question._

"_Thought so. Oh look, here comes that friend of yours…what's his name again?"_

_Audrey looked up again and saw that seventeen year old Severus Snape was walking toward where they were sitting. She felt her cheeks turn slightly red._

_Severus took a seat across from Alexis and Audrey. "Good morning, Severus," Audrey greeted him with a small smile._

"_Uh, hi Audrey. Congratulations on winning that Gobstones game the other day. You were brill--"_

_But he was interrupted by something behind Audrey. She looked behind and saw that Lily Evans had walked into the Great Hall. She had a big smile on her face and her hair looked redder than usual._

_The way he looked at her…Audrey would never in her life forget it._

_Lily started to walk towards them, but was stopped by James Potter, her new boyfriend. They were both Head Boy and Girl. Audrey tried to steal back Severus' attention, but he couldn't stop looking at her._

_Looking down back at her notes, she sighed._

_That was the day that Audrey finally realized that she would always be second best to Lily Potter._

"Audrey, the bell just rang," Remus said, tapping her arm.

"Oh…okay…" she got up and started to walk to the Arithmacy classroom. Suddenly, she stopped. She just realized that she was walking to Arithmacy, not her classroom.

"Rather strange mood I'm in today," she muttered to herself as she turned around and went the correct way to her classroom.

Then, she stopped again. She had just realized something.

The way that Severus had looked at her at breakfast that morning...it had almost looked as if he was looking at her the way he looked at Lily Evans all of those years ago.

"Don't be silly," she mumbled, shaking her head.

Sighing, she knew this was going to be a long day.

* * *

**A/N - Yes, this was a very short chapter. It was more of a flashback thing, I guess. I wanted there to be a bit of clarity between them, you know? Anyways, what did you think about the flashback? I wrote it on partial experience let's just say, I wanted to know if I did an okay job. Constructive critisism is welcome! Also, I am not on a hiatus anymore for this story! Yay.**


	11. An Unpleasant Collision

-1The bell rang, ordering students to class and leaving Severus alone with his thoughts.

Absently holding his goblet of pumpkin juice, he was able to visualize Audrey running out of the room from only moments earlier.

_Why did she run?_

He hadn't done anything. There had been no rude hand gestures, no frowns, and no raised eyebrows. All he had done was watch her. Was it now a problem for him to look at someone over breakfast?

_Obviously, Audrey had a problem with it. If she hadn't, she wouldn't have bolted from the Great Hall so quickly_, Severus thought rather angrily.

And what was so special about the way he looked at her? Surely he'd looked at people before without this sort of reaction.

Glancing around, he noticed that he was the only person left in the Great Hall. He pushed his chair back and left in a swirl of robes. On his way to his classroom, Severus decided that he would ask Lupin what Audrey had been doing that morning. Perhaps she had felt ill. And besides, he really did need to ask Lupin about the Wolfsbane potion.

Yes, asking Lupin would be an excellent move.

After two of his morning classes, he made his way up the Grand Staircase, hoping that he might be able to intercept Lupin on his way to lunch.

Much to his luck, he did and he wasn't walking with Audrey.

"Lupin, a word?" Severus said, glaring at Lupin.

"Sure, Severus," he said, both stepping off to the side of the corridor.

Before speaking, he glanced around to make sure that no one else was present in the corridor. Again, he was lucky.

"Is there anything wrong with Professor Burke? She's acting a bit more strange than usual."

"I don't think so, Severus, why do you ask?" Lupin asked, eyeing him.

Severus hesitated. He detested sharing his business, especially if it was with a bloody werewolf. Deciding to confide in him, he said, "It seemed like..." The words died halfway out of Severus' mouth. "I mean," he continued. "I merely was enquiring on the health of a colleague. Surely that's acceptable?" He finished with a trademark glare, daring Lupin to say anything about the words he hadn't said.

"Uh, okay Severus…" he heard Lupin murmur as he walked away.

_Why on earth did I decide to ask that dimwitted dog? _he thought as he stride back down the corridor, turning to walk back down the Grand Staircase.

He then just continued walking down the corridor, not bothering to go back down the corridor. When he turned a corner, something collided with someone. Staggering for a moment, he looked to see that it was none other than Audrey. She had to grab onto the wall to keep her stance.

"You know, you should start watching where you tread, professor," Severus informed her, which was followed by one of his infamous sneers.

"It's not my problem if you decide to wander the corridors at an peculiar time," she shot back, a look of defiance on her face.

"Then what are you doing here, Professor Burke?"

She raised her right hand. Her index finger was bandaged. "Someone thought that it would be funny to let off a Fanged Frisbee in my fifth year class. I was walking back from the Hospital Wing."

"Ah. And you gave out appropriate detentions?" he inquired.

"Yes, I did. Filch will be taking care of it, in fact," she answered rather haughtily, examining her injured hand.

"I see."

"Well, I'll be seeing you around, Professor Snape," she said sternly, walking past him.

Once she was out of sight, he thought, _Damn it! Why didn't I ask her about what happened at breakfast?_

But, he didn't want to speak to her unless he absolutely had to. Seeing this as a petty situation, he stalked off back to the dungeons.

That had certainly put him in a bad mood for the next afternoon.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

"Well, that was interesting," Audrey muttered to herself as she walked away from Severus.

_First, he stares me down during breakfast to the point of where it exceeded a bit past comfort level, then he insists that it was my intention to run him over in a deserted corridor! Could this day get any more peculiar?_

She wasn't hungry, so she didn't even bother going down to the Great Hall. When she reached her classroom, she sat down at her desk and examined her hand once more. Madam Pomfrey had to remove a small fang out of her finger before wrapping it up. It was the Weasley twins who had caused such a chaotic scene.

Audrey looked outside the window. The same sleet from breakfast was falling, perhaps even heavier than before.

Recalling her recent run-in with Severus.

"A rather snarky bastard, that Severus Snape," she said to herself, chuckling a little.

And yet, she still couldn't help but remember the way he was looking at her over breakfast.

_Why? w_as the only thing that she could think.

* * *

**A/N - le sigh I know, I know. It was really short. And I'm trying to get them together, and not to where they bicker all the time. When reviewing this, give me some ideas. Because I don't want to get stuck in a hole. Heh. Aside from reviewing this chapter, could you check out my short drabble that I just put up? I think I did a good job on it and feedback would be marvelous! The short story is called _Angel in the Sunflower Bed_. Also, kudos again to my friend Indigoenigma because she does help me out with a lot on this fanfiction :-)**


	12. Of Staircases & Changing

* * *

The next couple of days were busy for Audrey, because she was giving out mid-term quizzes. She did not have to time to socialize with the other professors, especially Severus. Actually, if she could help it, she would intentionally skip breakfast and lunchtime meals. Audrey wasn't sleeping too well, either, and it had started to show. Dark circles were starting to appear around her eyes. 

One morning, Remus practically dragged her into the Great Hall for breakfast. Audrey noticed that Severus - no, Professor Snape - wasn't at breakfast that morning. Feeling as if a burden had somehow been lifted off of her shoulders, Audrey helped herself to a hearty breakfast.

She very nearly skipped up the stairs to her first class. When she walked through the door, Hermione (who was always early) commented, "You look chipper this morning, Professor."

"Why, thank you Ms. Granger," Audrey replied with a grin. It was going to be a great day, she could feel it.

After her first two classes had ended, Audrey decided to walk down to the Great Hall for lunch. As she wandered down the staircase, she got a bit too caught up in her new-found energy, that she didn't see that Severus Snape was walking up the stairs. He was also not paying much attention to what was ahead of him.

If one could describe the scene that would follow with just one word, they would call it "pandemonium". Well, pandemonium in more of a non-violent sense, at least. Audrey lost her footing on a step and the next thing she knew, she was falling…falling…falling. She had expected to have been head butted by a step, but she was suddenly caught.

Someone's hands were on her waist.

Audrey slowly opened her eyes to find that she was not dead, nor injured. She was perfectly fine! After sighing in relief, she slowly looked down to see someone's hands were clutched to her waist. And those hands were connected to sleeves. And those sleeves just so happen to black. Looking up to see Severus, she gasped and jumped back, this time grabbing hold of the banister.

Severus immediately put his hands to his side, as if he was acting like he was trying to prove himself innocent of a crime in which he was clearly guilty.

"Next time, watch where you're going, Audrey." Severus seemed to be addressing the floor.

_Did he just call me 'Audrey'?_

Wondering why, she looked towards where he had been standing, but he was gone.

"Well, that wasn't strange at all…" she mumbled to herself sarcastically, continuing down the staircase. When she reached the Great Hall a few minutes later, she found herself with a rather ill-looking Remus Lupin.

"I just wanted to tell you that uh," he then lowered his voice to barely a whisper, "that I'll be off this next week. The full moon falls on strange time of the week this month. And it seems that I'm starting to develop a bit of an immunity to the Wolfsbane Potion."

"Oh, okay Remus," she said.

"I'm going to have Severus substitute my morning classes, and Professor Flitwick will substitute my afternoon classes. I just wanted to let you know of the situation," he said, rubbing his arm, which happened to bandaged from his last transformation.

_Well, that's just fantastic, Remus! I mean, honestly, you could have chosen McGonagall, or even Hooch for Merlin's sake! But no! You just had to choose Severus Snape, snarky git extraordinaire, who shows up on staircases at random times of the day. Honestly! _Audrey thought sarcastically as Remus walked out of the Great Hall.

Much to her luck, the bell rang and she didn't even get the chance to eat because the food had quickly vanished from the tables.

Sighing, Audrey walked back up to her office. She had a free period, but she didn't have any lesson plans that she needed to look over. Sitting down at her desk, she closed her eyes. Her mind immediately reversed back in time to the incident on the stairwell.

Audrey thought it was rather embarrassing, though she and Severus were the only ones there and she doubted that he was one to gossip.

"Wait," she muttered to herself, recalling the words that he had spoken to her.

"_Next time, watch where you're going, Audrey_."

It had been thirteen years since she heard her first name pass through his lips.

_Had he meant something by it, perhaps? Maybe he was intent on forming a friendship with me again, like in our schooldays? Or, maybe it was just an accident_, Audrey thought the last part with dismay.

She admitted that she did wish to pursue a friendship with Severus Snape. She had no idea why he was so bitter towards her. He, after all, never answered any of her owls that she had sent him after he had graduated. Why was he acting like it was her fault that she didn't keep contact with him?

Leaning back in her seat, Audrey closed her eyes. Hoping to fight off the rabid hunger from her lack of a meal at lunchtime, her breathing slowed and she fell into a light sleep.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

_Why did I do that?_ Severus thought as he slammed the door to his dungeon office.

Sweeping past the shelves that lined his office, he sat himself at his desk. He leaned forward and began to rhythmically tap his fingers on the table.

_Audrey probably detests me even more than before now. And why did I call her by her first name? She does not call me Severus, so what right did I have to call her Audrey? Well, none of this would have occurred if she was for once actually paying attention._

Sighing, Severus sat back in his chair.

_And it's not as if next week will be any better. If that dog of a man hadn't asked me to substitute the dunces in his morning classes, then I wouldn't have to encounter Audrey._

Glancing at the door as if he was expecting someone to walk right into his office without knocking, he thought suddenly, _Why did she change? She used to be such a great friend. She was the only one I could talk to. After Li--…__**she **__began dating that git James Potter, Audrey was the only person that I could talk to about almost anything. What the bloody hell happened?_

* * *

**A/N - _Yeah_...constructive critisism is welcome:-)**


	13. Inquiry of Apologies

* * *

When Audrey woke up the next day, she was absolutely determined to thank Severus for catching her. Lucky for her, she had a staff meeting just before dinner. The entire meeting was mostly just a review of what has been happening for last few months. When it was over, she watched as everyone filed out towards the Great Hall. Severus was about to depart from the room, until Audrey stopped him. 

"Excuse me, Professor Snape, can I have a word?" she watched him turn around and walk towards her.

"What can I help you with, Professor Burke?" she had almost expected him to call her by her first name again.

"I just wanted to say…_thanks_."

"And what action of mine would constitute a thanks from you, Professor?" he replied, slightly raising an eyebrow.

"Um, I'm referring to the incident on the staircase yesterday."

"Ah. There's no need to thank me Professor. I don't think that students would have fancied seeing your body splattered on the ground floor of the staircase."

_Well, he always had a rather pleasant way of saying things, didn't he?_

He continued, "And if you were looking where you were walking, I'm sure that none of this would have occurred."

"Wait, where I was walking? You could have let me known beforehand that we were walking on the same side of stairs, _Professor_!" she shot back.

Giving Audrey a rather gruesome smirk, he said, "Well then next time you happen to stumble on a stair, I'll be sure to continue on my merry way."

And with that, he swept out of the room, his black robes billowing behind him.

Audrey just stood there in shock.

_Why must every encounter I have with that man be tarnished?_

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

After dinnertime, Severus went back to his office. He crashed into his chair behind his desk and thought furiously, _Why do I always have to ruin the conversation? She was being decent when she was thanking me. Must I even reject such a kind gesture?_

He buried his face into his hands.

_It was a warm Spring day. Him and Audrey were walking across the courtyard, in deep conversation._

"…_well, Gobstones has a bit of a different concept." Audrey finished her explanation about Gobstones._

"_You know, I still don't get it. Probably because I don't care for the game much, you know?" he answered with a grin._

"_Ha-ha," she said, "Well that just wasted almost fifteen minutes of my life. I feel so accomplished."_

_As they turned into a door that led to a corridor into the school, Severus heard something._

"_James, they're evil! Mulciber…Avery…the whole lot of 'em!" It was Lily Evans, and she was being comforted by her boyfriend, James Potter. She appeared to be holding her arm, as if it was injured. They passed by without noticing Severus and Audrey._

"_Well then, what was that about?" Audrey asked._

"_Since when did I have anything to do with that?"_

"_Since you became friends with Avery and Mulciber. What'd they do to Lily? Not that I really care, but you know, I'm a bit curious."_

_Severus sighed. "They put the Flagrante curse on her schoolbooks, I think. I was just passing by at the time."_

"_Sure, Severus. I think I know better than that. You were there."_

"_Oh, so now I'm a Dark Wizard bent on destructing lives?" he questioned her._

_They turned another corner. She didn't look at him. "No, but I know you've been wanting to get back at Potter or Lily since they got together. I wasn't born yesteryear, you know."_

_He sighed again. "Okay, so maybe I was there, but I swear I didn't do anything that would cause harm. But now, I feel a little bad. Do you think I should go and apologize?"_

"_For something that Mulciber and Avery did? Why should you? If they had hearts, they'd go and apologize."_

The memory faded away from Severus' mind and he found that he was in his office again.

He sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair.

He missed who Audrey used to be.

* * *

A/N - I think I totally detest this chapter. Why? Because I can't write without having these two bicker! And it was totally short. For goodness sakes...reviews would be grand. :-)


	14. A Hospital Visit

* * *

Audrey woke up. She felt absolutely terrible. She stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom. The echoing of thunder shook the room. When she reached the bathroom, Audrey looked up into the mirror. The way she was feeling was nothing compared to what she looked like. 

Her face was gaunt, almost looking as if she hadn't seen the sunlight in years. Her eyes were bloodshot and red. She bent down and turned on the faucet and began to splash cold water onto her face, hoping that if she cleared her mind, all of this would go away. Unfortunately, it did not.

It was a Saturday, so Audrey did not have to teach.

_Maybe I should go down to Madam Pomfrey…_

She clumsily slipped on a gown and her usual robe. Her vision was blurry, so she was thankful that she only had to go down one flight of stairs to the Hospital Wing.

Audrey trudged down the corridor that led to the Grand Staircase. With every step, her vision grew worse. When she reached the Staircase, she didn't bother to even grab a hold onto the banister. Her pace had now increased to almost a run.

All of a sudden, her heel had come into contact with a trick stair. Audrey immediately slipped and felt herself rushing forward.

Her blurry vision was now darkening and just before she had fallen into a total unconsciousness, the side of her head had come into contact with a sharp blow.

* * *

Audrey felt a warm light come into contact with her close eyelids. Forcing them open, she saw that a large window had been draped open, with golden sunlight falling into the room. It seemed to be much different from the stormy weather that she had last awoken to. 

She positioned herself onto her elbows and raised herself up to look around. She was in the Hospital Wing. Audrey looked down and saw that she was dressed not in her previous attire, but instead a white wife beater, a pair of flannel bottoms. Much to her surprise, she wasn't cold at all; not because of the warm quilt that was draped over her, but instead, it was because of the two large fireplaces that had fires blazing in their hearth.

Just as she was examining the large room, she saw that Madam Pomfrey was now hurrying toward her with a bowl full of steaming liquid.

"Come now, Professor, try to sit all the way up," she told Audrey as she set down the bowl on the bedside table and raised her up by the elbows.

A moment later, she produced a cloth and began to soak it in the steaming liquid, which had started to turn the material a lilac.

"W-What happened?" was all that Audrey could say.

"You seemed to have fallen down a set of stairs. Professor Lupin found you and brought you here," Madam Pomfrey answered as she squeezed out the excess liquid from the rag. She was now bringing it towards Audrey's temple.

"I thought it was rain…Ahh!" she was cut off by a sudden stinging that had erupted from the side of her head.

Madam Pomfrey had brought the cloth back down into the bowl. Blood seemed to be drenching the purple stains.

"That was yesterday. You've been knocked out since yesterday morning," she answered casually.

"When can I leave?" That was the first thing that was on Audrey's mind.

"Not today, I'm afraid. I might have to keep you until around the middle of the week."

"But…I have classes…I can't…"

"Don't worry, dear, I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will have it all taken care of."

Audrey slumped back down into the pillows. After Madam Pomfrey finished her procedure, she just tried to go back to sleep, though she found herself that she couldn't.

The day had passed uneventfully, besides the fact that Professor Dumbledore had informed her that she would have Professor Snape and Professor Vector would be alternating days of substituting her classes until she would be out of hospital.

After a small dinner of bread and broth, Audrey rubbed the side of her head, where a small patch of bandages had replaced the wound. A light sprinkle of a mixture between ice and rain had tarnished the welcoming sunlight that was earlier present.

At seven o'clock, Audrey heard the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws make their way to their tower common rooms. A few of the students had stopped by to see her, including Hermione Granger. She seemed quite keen on getting her teacher back as soon as possible. Audrey assured her that she will be back soon enough.

A while after Hermione had left, Madam Pomfrey informed her that Severus Snape was outside the ward, waiting for Madam Pomfrey's approval to visit. When she had left to open the door for him, Audrey immediately sank into the pillows and turned on her side with her back toward the openness of the Hospital Wing, hoping that if he found her asleep, he would leave.

Knowing Severus, he would make her feel much worse than what she was already feeling.

When the door had been opened and then shut, she shut her eyes, hoping that it would make her sleep. She heard a pair of footsteps approach her bed.

"Oh, well she was awake when I had come to check on her. Poor dear, must be exhausted," she heard Madam Pomfrey say. She could see their shadows on the wall through her eyelashes. "I'll allow you a few minutes, though, Professor. She might even stir."

Audrey heard footsteps leave her side of the ward and Madam Pomfrey's office door had opened and then closed. She had guessed that looming over her was none of then dear Severus Snape. Judging by his shadow that was cast on the wall, he hadn't moved from where he stood. Suddenly, he glided to the foot of her bed.

This had made Audrey a bit nervous.

"Professor Burke?" he inquired in his usual hushed tone.

Audrey didn't answer, hoping it would send him away. But unfortunately for her, he did not leave.

Suddenly, he began to speak.

* * *

Severus looked at the woman in the bed before him. For a moment, he thought back to when he had heard the news that she had fallen down the stairs. He had cursed himself, because he recalled what he had last said to her. 

"_Well then next time you happen to stumble on a stair, I'll be sure to continue on my merry way."_

Suddenly, an urge had overcome him. And then, out of nowhere, he began to speak.

"Listen, _Audrey_, I know that you are indisposed of, but I am only going to say this once," his throat began to tighten up a bit. He continued. "I just wanted to get this out of the way. What I wanted to say was…" And then he stopped himself.

Why was he doing this? What would this prove, saying something like this to someone who was barely conscious?

He glanced down at her still body. Then, he turned away and began to walk towards the door of the Hospital Wing.

Suddenly, a familiar voice had stopped him in his tracks.

"What did you wish to tell me, Professor?"

* * *

**A/N - Thank you so much for being patient on my temporary hiatus! Ooh, cliffhanger, I know! But I knew that I had to get you readers coming back for more. :-)**


	15. Dear Faithful Readers,

**Dear Readers,**

**I will be updating this story as soon as I can. I bet the silence is killing you at the moment, but you have all got to understand that I am being mutilated with both class and homework. I am doing the best as possible without my grades being threatened. Also, my parents are kind of freaking out because they don't like fanfiction. Don't worry, this has not ceased my pen from being placed on the paper.**

**Also, I have some other stories some of you may be interested in. I will be taking down my Legolas/OC, and I have a few HP oneshots and a Criss Angel/OC story.**

**Don't worry,**

**-SlytherinTears.**


	16. Excerpt of Chapter Fifteen

* * *

Severus turned to see Audrey, whose face was gaunt with sunken cheeks. It had appeared as if she had not been in locked in a heavy slumber, but instead just laying there, in completely silence. She was sitting up now, reclined against a stack of pillows with a light sheet draped over her lower half. But for Severus, her ill-looking eyes were what stuck out to him the most.

"Excuse me, Professor?" he inquired, looking at her as if her next hospital visit would instead be to the mental ward at St. Mungo's.

"I believe that you heard me, but I will repeat myself anyways. What did you want to tell me, Professor Snape?" She was looking rather eerie now, with her hazel eyes boring into his black ones. Severus tried his best to not forget the subject of the conversation.

"No, Professor. You must have misheard me. I was not saying anything." The lie did not come quite as easily as Severus would have liked. And Audrey, despite her infirmities, noticed.

"Yes, you did say something." Audrey's voice was flat, nearly monotonous. She was probably not fully coherent anyways. Severus closed his eyes briefly, gathering his wits about him. However, all he could see was Audrey, as if she was painted upon the backs of his eyelids.

His face twitched and Severus took a deep breath inwards. A rush of words tumbled out of his mouth when he exhaled, but they were spoken so fast, that Audrey, who was still slightly dulled from the ministrations of the nurse, didn't quite catch them.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Snape bit the inside of his lip so hard that he tasted blood - he had only intended to say it once. For a brief moment, he wished he had been a Gryffindor. At least he would have had the courage to do whatever he wanted!

The foolish notion left him in an instant. He was a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor, and his mind was thinking traitorous thoughts. Severus screwed up his small reserve of courage and said quietly, but slowly, "I've missed you so much, Audrey."


	17. A Message to my Readers

Hello, my dear readers! I have come to inform you that I will be rewriting this story as a Snape/Sinistra (the astronomy professor) story. I may change up a few scenes and things like that, so please be sure to read it. 

I will not take down this story, so new readers can read it, even if it's not finished.


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